I bought my Jeep TJ new in late 1996 as a 1997. It is the best vehicle I have ever had. Right now, she has 408,000 miles on the odometer and climbing. The secret is never to let anybody work on your Jeep. Always do all your own modifications, maintenance, and repairs. Study schematics, buy quality tools, learn all you can about your Jeep. I am sure I can get 30 more years out of her.
@@walterfernandes2014 Only 27 years left to go. The mileage is now 431,000 miles and climbing. Still, nobody has touched her for service, maintenence and repairs. Only I have cared for my dear RMS Stargazer. There was a fire in the engine compartment Christmas of 2022. I lovingly, and dedicatedly, rewired everything in the engine compartment after a week and a half of cleaning the fire retardant from the two fire extinguishers discharged to turn off the fire. I also changed the fuel line to stainless steel. Yesterday, I took her on a 351 mile journey for a long road test to get supplies for my generator and get a new trailer. Besides a small radiator leak due to the acidity of the extinguisher fire retardent causing a seam to degrade on the radiator, she did wonderfully. In the spring, I will change the burnt hood and resolder the weakened seam and save the original radiator. I am already looking for a replacement hood. I foresee 500,000 by September 2024. I can not part with a vehicle that has been so enormously reliable, so rugged and durable, so fun, so beautiful. She is my best friend. I love my dear RMS Stargazer. She has been with me through things humans simply were not. That is why when she finally did fail, I repaid the wonderful years of being with me through so much with all I could do for her. It was 14°F when I rewired her and changed the fuel line. It took an entire day. I would have done it if it were 0°F. Never underestimate the love between a boy and his Jeep.
I bought mine new in 1996. Besides regular consumables, I have never had a problem until Christmas 2022 when there was an electrical fire that crippled her to a point that she could not run. But that was the first time in 26 years I had any problem. Granted, it was actually a really huge failure. But, I repaired the damage. In spring, I will be resoldering the radiator and replacing the burnt hood. But, she is running like new again. She just does not look very good right now. But a new hood and paint is coming soon.
@@blade913 There is a tapered lugnut remover that would have made short work of those ceased and broken lugnuts. They are very cheap and easily available at your local auto parts store.
Completely agree considering the value of these Jeeps, especially the 4.0L. I bought a 98 TJ 2.5 with new Toyo 33's lift winch, A/C 5-Speed 4:10's, etc but a blown engine for $1750.00. That is a steal out here on the west coast. No keys which is an issue as they are chipped, but I have the new engine ready to go in and I am regearing to 4:88's.
Bought my 1998 Jeep for $6,000. Within the first year replaced the engine mounts, fan shroud, alternator. Second year the transmission case was cracked and had to be replaced, then had to have the transmission rebuilt. Third year got the death wobble, and spent a small fortune getting that fixed properly. Also replaced the coolant lines the same year. Now the radiator is leaking and I have to replace it this weekend. All told I have spent almost as much fixing it as I paid for it. Still have to recharge the a/c, fix some rust spots, replace the brakes, and some other small items. I still like my Jeep. Just glad I don’t live in an apartment complex anymore where I can’t work on it myself. Jeeps are like strippers; they are happiest when you keep throwing money at them.
I had a 99 it needed frame work but it got wrecked in a accident, just picked up a 01 and it needs a floor pan and some minor other body work from what I've found but it has a clean frame, 2500CAD and I live in the salt belt.
LOL Your last comment about Jeeps and strippers!!!! I'm cryin'!!! I'm definitely gonna use that one! I've got an '01 myself and just in the last month ALL the brake lines, hardware, both front rotors, both pads and calipers, and both rear cylinders had to be replaced. Then a week later, the driveshaft dropped out and both u-joints had to replaced. When it rains, it pours!
@@grumpy-g5s If it was the inline six, no engine replacement would have been needed. Anybody can rebuild one of them with little effort and expense. It is an antique, push rod, one piece cylinder head, single valve train, simple intake, two valves per piston, engine. A completely ceased, cracked cylinder head, bent push rod, cracked cylinder, broken crank shaft, engine is easy to repair and cheaper than buying a replacement engine.
yuh, yuh, yuh, memories... in my case I found out later from someone who thought they knew the history of the jeep; The one I bought may have gotten stuck in the surf at Pismo Beach. Apparently, they didn't clean and grease things up correctly. But after... a lot of work it turned out to be a good vehicle! You're keeping a smile on your face, that's the main thing! It looks great!
I had the exact same problem with my lug nuts on my 99 tj Sahara! There is a solution for those who might have the same issue ! Use a 6 foot long wrench bar to apply gentle high torque but dont try to undo the nut just apply pressure then at the same time get a friend rhythmically beat the socket with a bloody big hammer ! This worked on every stripped nut like a charm !
I can not believe you destroyed the wheels that way! 3 drill bit sizes thru the center of the lugs would have done the job in a quarter of the time! This is a common occurrence and would have saved the wheels.
F man. You must use impact rated sockets if beating them on. Iv never broke one of them. Impact sockets are better than the tools iv used to get lock nuts off when the key is missing.
$ 0.02, If anyone ever has the stripped lug nut problem, dont cut the wheels off. Please. Take a 1/8th in drill bit and bore through the center of the lug nut. Keep drilling with progressively bigger bits until you have completely removed the lugs. Happened to me. Wasn't fun, but I still have my wheels.
This was one of the first issues I dealt with too when I bought my TJ five years ago. I ended up painstakingly drilling out each stud. Good quality drill bits were key, and it sucked. Ultimately what I would do now is just drill around the stud with a bi-metallic hole-saw bit (1 inch diameter, inexpensive at home depot or lowes) and just sacrifice the rims like you did....those hardened bits will chew through the aluminum easily. Then just cut the studs with an angle grinder. Better yet, just yank out the whole axle/wheel/tire and get rid of it. Get some alloy axle shafts with decent wheels and tires. Wish I'd started a YT channel to document my own journey from trash heep to rad jeep.
I have owned 3 Jeeps and they certainly are a lot of maintenance. That being said since you are familiar with Jeeps you could make this a business opportunity and purchase older Jeeps fix them up and resale them knowing you are selling a good solid product to people who want a Jeep Wrangler. Certainly something to think about!
@Scott Duffy a torch would work but needlessly heat and discolor everything around it, and if the lug is already have way off then pounding a socket onto it would just push the stud out through the back and then the stud and nut just flop in the hole and make it impossible to do anything with.
You've got a great deal on this jeep. First thing that comes to mind is an air chisel and split the lug or drilling them out. And pull the rusted fenders off and put rock crawler fenders on. I doubt you're going to loose money on it yet. It will sell right now for twice what you have in it.
Yup. My 99 Cherokee had the chrome caps. Everyone was stripped. Cut the cap off and still they wouldnt budge. Imlact worked on a few. Some just spun. Most all the studs were screwed. Took a while to find the correct studs, locally. Bought all new grade 8 nuts. At this point looks are not an issue so at least all studs have nuts that actually work.
Thanks! It absolutely was a pain if you couldn’t tell from the tone of my voice 😑. But it was the only way those wheels were coming off in a timely manner.
hey, if you have this wheel/stud/lug problem, let me know. this happened to me and "we" came up with a successful solution much better then cutting the wheel off...
Get a drill , drill your studs out so you don't have to cut the rims off . Ya I replaced a lot of parts on mine also , stay clear of the 07-11 3.8 motors /electrical problems/oil eaters/ Money pit .
Also another option to removing stuck wheels, you an pull the axle shafts and just get new ones at a yard and scrap the lot. Saves the trouble of torching and cutting
For anyone looking to buy a good Jeep, go to a south western state and get one with no salt rust on the undercarriage. Saves you a lot of maintenance. I bought my 99 TJ back in 2009 in north Hollywood and this thing is clean. All original stock except new soft top.
Considering the level of effort to get the wheel off, would dismounting the whole wheel bearing/hub assembly be an option in this type of situation for the fronts? It would get the wheel and the work free of the jeep so that you could bust the studs out more easily. Random thought.
You said” Damn the torpedos, full steam ahead”...you persevered and now you have a great jeep...I think the person that sold it to you didn’t tell you that the nuts were put on too tight and tires haven’t been removed for some time!
I just bought this same model basically, a gunmetal pearlcoat 1998 Sport with 5 speed and 4 liter engine. Mine is "rust free" and it's spring of 2022 so I paid beaucoup bucks for it... But every fastener is prone to breakage because it's a Chrysler product.. I'm pretty sure they engineered them with grade 1 bolts and expect rust to act as loctite.. Watching you saw a wheel off of its hub tells me you have a longish journey in front of you, learning to be calm and creative when dealing with issues like that.
I’m an Original owner of a spec-ordered 97 TJ Sport. (143k on the clock....All my kids learned to drive stick in it...and I don’t have the heart to get rid of it...in fact, I often drive it over my 2020 Tacoma, my Porsche or my wife’s Forester). My factory steel wheels are pretty rusted....and I picked up five of those exact rims on C-list. What am I missing here? How the hell were three out of four wheels “stripped”? Too much torque installing them? It is almost unfathomable to me that your luck was that bad. Regardless, I’d like to think, your luck is changing....that is a good looking Jeep.
I just weld similarly sized nuts or even another lug nut on top of the stripped lugs, bolts ect. Iv used this for many stuck bolts and nuts. Just pick up a cheap HF mig welder for those crappy moments.
Let me tell you a horror story about a Jeep I purchased 3 months ago. It's a 97 4-cylinder TJ. Immediately one week after buying it I had to replace all four fuel injectors, the distributor cap, the radiator, straighten the frame on the body, get a new muffler, have an oil leak fixed, a new exhaust manifold, paint the dash, had the steering wheel fixed, get a new battery, get a new tie rod, get a new voltage regulator, get all four new spark plugs And to top it off I even had to paint the damn thing myself
Wish I could've say I haven't been through the same. Night a nice looking 01 with only 84k on it. 6 months later I found out it had internal frame for when it broke. I could have bought a new one for what I have in it now.
I can't wait to get my hands on one of those Jeeps they're popular to drive in Puerto Rico and I always see you at the Puerto Rican date festival I like the classic Jeeps they'll make them like that no more
Had a 1998 Wrangler that I bought new, biggest piece of garbage I've ever owned BY FAR. What was particularly ass-chapping about it was I sold a Nissan Hardbody to get it. That Nissan I owned since new had 165K miles on it and ZERO had gone wrong with it in those miles.
So you guys took those rims off in the hardest way possible. When this kind of thing happens I do not suggest doing what you did. The easiest way to fix this problem is very simple. Take your strongest drill and a really good set of drill bits and you drill it out. You start with a small pilot hole and work your way to a bit that is the same size of the center of your lug nut. You then drill into the lug nut stud just behind the rim making sure not to drill into the rim. When you have gotten in far enough the lug nut will come off with the drill bit when backing out or pop off on the way out repeat for all lug nuts then take a big ball pin hammer and hit the lug nut stud out. Replace lug nut studs and lug nuts and your good to go.
For 1500$ running driving and not in worst shape, that's not bad dude. Getting a jeep in decent shape that needs some work that your gonna use to wheel around, hunting fishing mudding, that's a normal setup for the price IMO. I would probably turn that thing into a pretty big straight up mud truck or rock crawler. Just go all out and take my time making a nice project out of it
i bought a 98 tj in march 2017 with only 96000 on it and now it only has 102000 do not wheel it just a short daily driver.had too do some replacements parts but nothing really crazy. normal work i guess you would say for that old of car. paid 8000 worth every penny.
What you could of done on lug nuts over tighted them n twist them breaking the bolt n those can be replaced $ 3- 10 a piece or junk yard,, starter was easy it's the brushes, I hit mines dented it all the way around the brushes were touching n working for about 5 months,. Leaking oils will mess up motor n lite starts or hard ones getting stuck on flywheel , then again you can just buy the motor on it,,, last when you have rust on it you can either hide by brushing top layer putting a rust primer stop bleeding, 3 coats then the paint match by can ,n clear coat 3 phase, the other is removing the rust completely making holes using shears n other metal tools using metal as a back brace either jb cold weld or hot weld grinding sanding lightly on metal on top of metal to filled in line up with body,, or used JB weld as a filler n Bondo which works way better it's more work but cheaper than buying fenders doors large cut outs on back fenders then welding
Get a Milwaukee hammer drill it’ll get anything off with 1400 foot pounds I got mine for 200 bucks. Just hammer on a slightly smaller size of a socket to get the lugs off. I’ve had this problem with vehicles before and that method worked good.
Someone went to Walmart or a Discounter tire and some kid got silly with the impact and stretched the studs beyond yield. I have one old Gas station tire shop I go too, and their help stays the same very little turn over. My relatives go into the above and when one lost a tire lug nuts sheared and never found the tire he pulled it into my farm on the hub.
Yeah the cheapest jeep tj here in western Colorado is 3500. Got 210k miles and a check engine light and bad gauges. I've been in the market for a tj for a while now and just can't find one reasonable
I feel you there. New prices are ridiculously expensive too. I finally gave in and said fuck it. I figured if I was ever gonna buy a brand new vehicle this is it.
You need to use a impact wrench to take it off. Or get a hammer and tap it. This take it right almost to the braking point, but in tap that slowly move the nut. My van was on the same way. You can stand the the braker bar. But I knew it would snap. So I drove the flat about a block and pass one intersection into Midas . He was on one nut white the impact wrench about 1 minute some nut more. I got all new tire too so I told him hand tight it back please
Hold it... you didn't pay ENOUGH!!! Man, stop your complaining. You can't even buy a beat up ATV for $1500.00 You should go find the person who sold it to you and buy them a steak dinner. That being said... great jeep bro. Enjoy!!! 👍👍👍👍👍🍻
The problem we have in Florida is the drive on beaches and the saltwater. It corrodes them on and you end up stripping either the lug nut or the studs themselves. A little noncorrosive graphite and actually a good washing will prevent that. Actually vice-versa.
I just bought a running & driving 2001 TJ 4.0 auto with 2" lift & new soft top for 1600$! Great deal huh!? WRONG lol... Wish I would have videod the process.... Still not done.. floor boards frame patch rocker boxes & panels engine tune up etc😵
Sounds like you are still money ahead. I paid $2000 six years ago for a non running rust free 1998 TJ and after putting in another $3000 for a remanufactured engine and misc. I now have a good running Jeep.
Agreed frozen lug nuts turned you off? You look strong get a cheater pole and twist the lug studs in half. Knock out the remains and put new studs in. You failed when you melted them. It was a sucky situation made worse by over kill.
I would have looked on Craigslist, eBay, FB Marketplace, Jeep Forums, local pull a parts, etc. You can find old TJ Dana 30s and 35s for loose change these days.
Ive owned 2 of them style jeeps 1st thing i did to both of them is drop it off at all out off road and got 4 in lift kits installed with 35in tires and steel wheels i let them have the headache for 3500 bucks installed
Wow! Great price.... sucks about the wheel studs.... a journeymen auto tech could have removed them and saved the rims. No one other then you has ever had to cut the rims off...of anything.
Omg I thought I was alone I had to do the same thing to my Cherokee after buying the new ridged impact gun I was fucked after putting a new hub assembly in cause I cranked the hollow acorns on and they never came off again lol
A 1500 dollar TJ without a rusted frame and you are complaining? I just paid four grand for a YJ with a broken rear differential and knew the rear was toasted before I called about it. IDK
I could say "It is jeep Thing", But not really in this case. We have removed hundreds of lug nuts; stripped, stuck, frozen, rounded off, rusted, etc. Never did we have to cut the wheel apart. We had state inspection garage; and saw plenty of horror stories. Oh yes, some studs did break off, and got ruined, but they were bad anyway. You need more practice.
I can definitely see why you kept it! You don’t go threw all that and then sale it oh no u wait till ur ready to let it go and then you beat the crap out of it till she passes her jeep sprit to the next world.
Living in the rust belt in the USA you could get some for $1500 but will be sooo rotten .. A snap on socket might have gotten them nuts off .Or drill them out
